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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 120 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  2. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  3. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  4. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  5. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  6. He was locked up in a ________________.
  7. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  8. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  9. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  10. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  11. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  14. There's no middle ________________.
  15. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  16. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  17. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  20. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  21. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  22. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. race — the arms race
  3. race — a contest
  4. racket — for tennis
  5. ground — the earth
  6. cell — in a prison
  7. racket — for tennis
  8. bass — the fish
  9. ground — crushed
  10. race — humankind
  11. racket — a loud noise
  12. clip — for paper
  13. branch — of a bank
  14. ground — a position
  15. branch — a division
  16. fork — in a road
  17. fork — a garden tool
  18. clip — to cut
  19. cell — in biology
  20. bass — the instrument
  21. fork — to eat with
  22. branch — of a tree
  23. clip — a video
  24. cell — a phone

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com